Parliament has passed the iTaukei Affairs (Amendment) Bill 2023 which allows the reinstatement of the Great Council of Chiefs.

28 MPs voted for the Bill, 22 voted against it, 3 did not vote and 1 MP abstained.

While tabling the Bill, Attorney General, Siromi Turaga said the Great Council of Chiefs was established under the iTaukei Affairs Act 1944 however in 2012 the establishing provision of the Council was repealed through the iTaukei Affairs (Amendment) Decree 2012 which also removed or amended various provisions under the Act that made reference to the Council.

The iTaukei Affairs (Amendment) Bill 2023 amends the Act to insert an establishing provision for the GCC in the Act and includes reference to the Council in other provisions of the Act and the iTaukei Trust Fund Act 2004 as applicable.

The Bill also requires the iTaukei Affairs Board to refer to the Council any question relating to the iTaukei people that the Minister may submit to the Board.

The Bill also amends section 11 of the Act to require the Minister to refer to the Board or the Council any proposed Bill that is intended to be introduced to Parliament and

which may appear to the Minister to affect in any important matter the rights and interests of the iTaukei people.

The Board or the Council, as the case may be, is then required to submit the proposed Bill with a memorandum, which is to be used in the Parliamentary debate process.

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Parliament has passed the Prime Minister’s motion to reduce the rates payable for overseas travelling allowances for the Prime Minister, Cabinet Ministers, Assistant Ministers, Leader of the Opposition and Members of Parliament from December 1st 2023 although the Opposition opposed the motion saying that they should wait for the Parliamentary Emoluments Committee report.

Deputy Prime Minister, Minister for Communications and SMEs, Manoa Kamikamica has today confirmed that as soon as they got into office, he reduced his overseas travel allowance to 100 percent and some other ministers did the same however, this should have been done a long time ago.

Kamikamica highlighted this while supporting the motion moved by Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka to reduce the rates payable for overseas travelling allowances for the Prime Minister, Cabinet Ministers, Assistant Ministers, Leader of the Opposition and Members of Parliament.

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Former Attorney General Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum is still in Singapore recovering from the surgery he received last month.

His lawyer, Devanesh Sharma, says from the doctor’s assessment, Sayed-Khaiyum has gone through internal procedures and he won’t be able to travel until the end of December.

Sharma says once he arrives, they will surrender his client’s passport to the court.

Acting Chief Magistrate Waleen George told both counsels that it is better to put a mention date in January.

When the Acting Chief Magistrate questioned Sharma if Sayed-Khaiyum will be in the country in January, he assured the court that Sayed-Khaiyum will be in Fiji.

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